


All The Wrong Things

by Gwenmonster



Category: Skins (UK)
Genre: F/M, Karen POV
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-24
Updated: 2016-10-24
Packaged: 2018-08-24 08:32:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 718
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8365246
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gwenmonster/pseuds/Gwenmonster
Summary: Karen McClair, still reeling from her mother's death,  is starting her first year at Roundview College. She befriends Tony Stonem and his group of public school miscreants, and begins to rediscover who she is beyond her pain. .. but is the discovery really worth the cost?





	

She was in choir practice when she got the call. Karen McClair was always going to remember that afternoon. How broken her father had sounded on the other end, the cold sensation that washed over her when she’d realized what he was trying to say through the tears. The other girls had looked baffled when she’d quietly excused herself from the auditorium. 

She ran directly to the lavatory and vomited into the sink, hardly aware of the flecks of leftover lunch that made it into the hair that she’d neglected to pull back. She ran nearly the entire way home, stopping a block over when she’d run out of breath. When she got to the house, rather than going inside Karen made her way around the side of the house and into the backyard. The old tool shed, Freddie’s playhouse that she’d always been jealous of, stood over in one corner. With a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach, she didn’t even bother to knock as she turned the door handle and steeped inside. 

It was dark; for a brief moment she wasn’t even sure if he was there- it crossed her mind that he could have gone to Cook’s or JJ’s. Then she saw him- or rather, she heard a small sob escape from beneath the pile of blankets on the couch. 

“Freddie…” she whispered tentatively. Karen’s heart sank as her eyes adjusted enough to the darkness for her to recognize one of the blankets. Surely it had been on the bed when… No, no she didn’t want to think about that completely. Right now, her little brother needed her. Taking a deep breath, she tried again and walked up to the couch. 

“Freds, I...” she trailed off, not quite sure what to say. What was the fucking point in saying anything when… 

“Fuck off, Karen.” His voice was muffled from beneath the pile of cloth. The feeling in her stomach got worse, she almost thought she might throw up again. She took a deep breath to steady herself.  
“Freddie, I_”

“Fuck OFF, Karen!” Freddie’s head appeared, the volume of his voice startling her into silence. His eyes were bloodshot, voice raspy and harsh as he continued in a softer tone “Get out of my shed.”

“No.” she wasn’t aware that she was going to say it until the words had actually left her mouth, and it hung between them in the heavy silence for what seemed like ages before one of them spoke. 

“Where the fuck were you, anyway?” Freddie mumbled. “You usually get home first.” 

“Emergency choir rehearsal.” She responded, sitting on the arm of the sofa beside her brother’s head. When he didn’t respond, she continued. “I… I’m sorry. I should have been here.”

“Fucking right you should’ve.” Freddie said after another stilted moment. “…I was looking for batteries, for the remote. Checked all the usual places.” His voice cracked, but Karen stayed silent as he went on “She…she was the only one home, so I thought I’d ask if she had any set aside…. It was dark at first, but I didn’t really think much of it. You know how she gets…. Got…” his voice faded, and Karen realized that he’d begun to cry. Should she be crying? Her heart ached for what her little brother had endured, maybe being the strong one was the better idea. She rested a hand on her brother’s mop of dark hair and felt him take a deep, shuddering breath as he continued on. 

“She was in bed… I… I thought she was asleep so I walked up to her. Said “Mum,” a few times, like you’d think… and then I saw the… the pills. They were gone. The bottle was there, and… and I remembered you saying that it was full at breakfast. So I called for an ambulance, but… but I knew. She wasn’t moving. She was cold… I knew she wasn’t there and… and you weren’t there. Dad wasn’t there. It was… it was just me. .”  
Karen hadn’t realized that she was crying until a tear landed on her hand. They sat in silence, the minutes passing like hours, not sure how either of them would make it through this and well aware that life as they knew it had changed.


End file.
